Category: Taxes

Once again I faced another tense moment while preparing my income tax as I was calculating, and researching ways as to not have to write a check to the IRS this year! Some might say I am part of the 47% that don’t pay income tax and I say “you are right”, but this does not bother me because I pay tax on income in way of payroll tax, ss tax, medicare tax, state tax and local tax so I think that I should be able to find ways (legally and within the rules of course) not to pay income tax!

I squeaked by this year by having the energy tax credit that I was able to deduct, but if not for that I would be writing a check! To top it all off, I already claim zero exemptions and put 15% in my 401K in order to reduce my tax burden and still on the borderline of paying income tax!

So to all of you all that think the 47% that do not pay income tax are dead beat losers that want to live off the government, guess what? I work, do not get a dime from the government and pay a helluva lot in taxes every year through what I produce from work each year and I don’t think this is fair so I will continue to blog about this and write Congress every chance I get until something is changed. For the record.. I wrote the President asking why my bonus is taxed at a higher rate than my pay and once I again I get no response from a government that is suppose to work for me but I will keep wiring because I am least trying to do something!

One again I have received my annual bonus and as usual the government takes their standard 42% in taxes that include; Federal, State, Local, Medicare, and Social Security. I don’t even look forward to it because I know this will be stolen from me and it is quite disheartening to bust your tail all year and hope this extra money will help me catch up on a few things then I look at the deposit and get angry about it!

I am not one to sit around and complain as I try to take action to express my frustration and in this case I have done so by writing my Congressman and Senator. As can be expected I received less than an adequate response to the unfairness of taking this percentage of my bonus. In a nutshell I was told I could claim this on my taxes and get in back in a refund. Well guess what.. I can’t!!, This is counted as regular income on my W-2 so I can’t enter this on my income tax in a way to get any type of deduction. As a matter of fact I received a two page letter that gave me the “runaround” on why “my money” was stolen from me!

Let me say, I understand there have to be taxes to run the country but when this government is wasting all this money and we give money to countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq that hate us, want us dead and all the while the people in this country are falling farther and farther behind in trying to make a living! I have a proposal to make with the government: “Go ahead and take 42% from me but in return I want them to give me back the kind of money they are giving to these countries in the Middle East”. If all Americans were “given” back the money this country hands to these ingrateful nations, the economy would turn around in 6 months! As long as the government continues to confiscate money from the citizens at an unfair rate the less incentive we all have to work harder and to be better!

I intend on writing another letter to my Representatives on this issue as I will not give up!! It may never change, but it doesn’t do me any good to just sit here a stew about it and I suggest we all do the same and let Washington know we are watching!

Last year the President proposed a payroll tax cut which was implemented for working Americans. While not a lot of money the cut is appreciated and every little bit helps. However, in the debt ceiling agreement the continued payroll tax cut was not included and postponed for discussion at a later time. To me this should have been a very important part of the discussion because it is possible the Congress would let this sunset and then the middle class would have their taxes raised on the sly to help pay for this continued unnecessary spending. So the Congress could be ready to “stick it” to us again!!

Don’t think the President is off the hook either for continuing to push for a continued payroll tax cut which I appreciate. As we found out when we filed taxeS last year this increased the income that was brought home and then had to be declared income and taxeS paid so really no one came out ahead. If the President really wanted to make a good impression not only would he continue to push for an extension of a payroll tax cut, but tell the IRS they are not allowed to collect any tax on the extra money working Americans received through a break in the payroll tax. Maybe instead of turning the IRS loose on Americans we should have them go after Iraq and Afghanistan because with all that money we gave them tax-free, there would be more than enough to close the budget gap!

This is not only an important issue for the entire country but also at the individual level for all Americans and we should all be very concerned how this issue plays out. Taxes are of particular interest to me especially several times of year when I receive a bonus or extra pay for being sent on a special work assignment. In the last month I had to leave town for work where I was paid my regular salary plus extra for the work I was doing while out-of-town. I already knew the government was going to take “their cut” of my extra pay but it never really hits home until you receive the pay and check stub showing the unreasonable amount the government “steals” from me to waste on a bunch of crap!

Are you ready for this…?? After Federal, State, Local, Medicare, Social Security the government takes 42% off the top!! This makes me so mad!! This is why in communist countries nobody cared about working or producing because the government was going to take it from people so they didn’t care. This is what is happening in this country the government is having to take more money from the working people to give to those that don’t produce and for corporations that don’t pay any taxes!

This is where the “debt ceiling” comes into play. The U.S. keeps raising the debt ceiling to keep playing this “shell game” with our money. But now we are just about at the end of this balancing act of continuing to raise the debt ceiling in order to keep this game going and the rest assured any agreement to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for taxing “the rich” will not solve the debt problem. There are not enough “so-called” rich people” to fix this problem. The government is going to tax all of us! There have already been rumblings in Congress about them getting their hands on 401k’s because of the billions of dollars in those plans because Congress can’t help themselves when there is a big pool of money laying around because they have to get their hands on it.

Finally, back to the 42% tax on “bonus pay”.. This was the doing of the Clinton administration so this is why he had a budget surplus because Clinton balanced his budget on the back of working Americans and to me this will happen again in order to get the same result. The only thing stopping this government now is the economy is in the tank and 10% unemployment!

As we move down the road since the passage of Healthcare reform the “slow trickle” of information begins to come out on how healthcare for everyone is going to be paid for and as expected it will be paid for on the backs of working Americans. New information has just been released that says “over the counter medications can no longer be used under a Flexible Spending Account unless there is a prescription from a doctor”. The new requirements take effect in January 2011 and the IRS has spelled out what needs to be done to meet the requirements. If you have not guessed already and what some of us knew would happen this change is being made to raise revenue and help pay for premiums of the lower-income uninsured.

Now we know why 17,000 additional IRS agents are being hired, so they can make sure “working Americans” hand over their money to pay for all of this!! The FSA benefited working people by helping them pay for prescriptions, office visits and over the counter medication and this are slowly being taken away! We hear our government say “we will tax the rich” to pay for all of this. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there are not enough “rich people” to pay for all of this and the plan all along was to have the working people pay for this. The government has to get revenue from somewhere and the hiring of all these IRS agents is to make sure they get it! Our only hope is the ballot box so I urge you to continue to vote out the current politicians in office and do this in every election until they get the point that we are all fed up and not going to take this anymore!! I have linked to the article below.http://www.workforce.com/section/news/article/irs-says-flexible-spending-accounts-cant-reimburse-otc-drugs.php

Why might you ask is the title for my post? Well, in my community kids are bused all over the county in the name of diversity etc… at the cost of about 70 million dollars a year for fuel, bus drivers, and the other costs associated with busing. In the last week the school board voted to raise property taxes $30 dollars per $100 of assessed value on property to help “fund” the schools because they are running out of money. Busing was implemented in the 1970’s (in which I was a victim of) and at the time things did not cost as much and there was plenty of money to pay for these social programs.

However, things are different in 2010. The federal government is bankrupt, unemployment is at 10% and the jobs people are getting don’t pay enough to afford any extra other than food, clothing and shelter. All of these social engineering programs cost money so in the last 30 years the government ran deficits to pay for them and now the bill has come due. But the liberals continue down this road of spending money like it was 30 years ago. Think about it!! 70 million dollars a years to bus kids all over the county!! Look at what that money could be used for. Newer school bldgs, hire more teachers and new programs for students.

The liberals in this country have to realize there is no more money and we can’t keep taxing year after year to pay for it. If these social engineering programs cost this kind of money then it is time to get rid of them. I don’t have any more money to pay in taxes especially with Obama care because my health insurance premiums will be going up later this year so I do not know where these tax and spend liberals think they are going to get their money. I think the government just wants us to give them our paychecks so they can take care of us!! To me that seems to be where it is headed.

In the ongoing saga of the mosque being built at ground zero we find out Imam Rauf is on a mideast tour to promote religious tolerance that will cost $16,000 and will include per diem and honorarium and all this is being paid for by the State Department which gets their money from the taxpayers. The article also mentions this Imam made trips like this during the Bush administration. So the question I have is why doesn’t the State Department pay for this Imam to meet with the 9/11 families to promote respect and honor for them and to the rest of this nation for the pain he is causing by wanting to build this mosque?

Secondly, here we have the US government paying for this Imam to take these trips to the middle east and sometimes makes me wonder of all this turmoil about this mosque and other issues like this are a smoke screen to hide the real problems in this nation!! Again, I realize this Imam has the right to build this mosque but the decent thing to do is to build it somewhere else. But, it seems like our government speaks out of the both sides of its mouth and we as the citizens are left to wonder what really is the truth. The media play this up and the population gets all in a frenzy and in the meantime we ignore the serious issues of this nation; like it being bankrupt!!

In conclusion I would say that if this Imam wants to promote religious tolerance in the middle east then let those countries pay for it! Why should our tax dollars be spent to send this Imam to the middle east when he is sticking it in the eye of this nation by wanting to build this mosque at ground zero. (Link info below)

As we enter into the end of 2010 the media is full of reports about the increase in taxes that are on the way whether by the expiration of the Bush tax cuts or an increase of taxes imposed by the government. I have come across and article that was written by Lanny Davis who was special counsel to President Clinton in which he discusses a new ” tax increase bill” introduced in Congress. According to this bill there will be a 1 percent “transaction tax” on every financial transaction and we would all pay one cent for every dollar for these transactions whether by cash, credit card. The article says this tax will not apply to the buying or selling of stock.

Looking at this on the surface some might say ” it is only a penny and it is no big deal” but I say “It is a big deal” if you look at the history of tax increases. Remember the tax on your phone bill that was still being levied until recently to pay for the Spanish-American war of 1898!! This was just recently removed from the phone bill after 100 years and the war only lasted a year! Yet, we as the tax payers were not offered a refund were we? Look at the payroll tax which started out as “1 percent” deducted from take home pay and compare to where it is today!! These are just two examples but there are many more of this government trying to solve their out of control spending by raising taxes!!

You can be assured that if this bill passes Congress and this “1 percent” tax on financial transactions is imposed a few years later Congress or the President will decide this needs to be increased by 2,3 or 4 percent!! It will never be enough and this is why we need to pay attention when a bill like this gets introduced in Congress and defeat it now before it takes root. Because if this “tax bill” is allowed to take root then we will be stuck with this tax for 100 years just like 100 year old tax on your phone bill to pay for the Spanish-American war of 1898!

I have made several posts on the healthcare bill and the taxes that will be levied on the “Working American People” that will raised in order to pay for it. I have also mentioned the general increases in taxes that will need to be raised to help reduce the National Debt! I have come across two articles that state “Muslims excused from Obama care”. I have copied the provision below from the Senate and House Bills these articles discuss:

EXEMPTIONS FROM INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

In the case of an individual seeking exemption based on the individual’s status as a
member of an exempt religious sect or division, as a member of a health care sharing ministry, as an Indian,

or as an individual eligible for a hardship exemption, such information as the Secretary shall prescribe.”

Senate Bill, H.R. 3590, pages 273-274

The articles say that according to “various Muslim fatwas they forbid Muslim participation in any sort of healthcare or insurance risk”. To muslims insurance is considered gambling because it is based on ambiguity. Obviously, this provision could be applied to other religious groups and not just muslims but I did not want to focus on one group on my blog. My issue is ” if something like healthcare is so important why start trying to exempt certain groups from participating?” Because rest assured if certain groups are granted the right not to participate then they will not have to pay any fines are premiums for this but will want to get the benefits of “Obama care”.

These are the types of issues that concerned me when the healthcare bill was passed. Not the part about pre-existing conditions, covering children up to 24 years old,etc…. But, obscure provisions like this that is a moving target and if any decisions are made in regard to this provision if will be made in favor of the decider which will be the “bloated bureaucracy” that will make all of our healthcare decisions. Once the healthcare provision is entrenched in our society we will be subject to these provisions with no choice but to accept them.

The American People must remain vigilant and stay alert to what is going on so when these “issues pop up” we all can become informed and let our government know we want change. This is why the American People were not told ahead of time what was in the healthcare bill because if we knew what is in store for us there is no way this bill would have passed in its present form. In closing my title refers to the fact that if this healthcare bill stays in its present form then all Americans should participate. Let’s don’t start exempting certain groups right off that bat!!

I have borrowed my title from Ronald Reagan in the 1980 Presidential debate with Jimmy Carter in which he posed this question to the American people. I remember watching that debate and I reflect on that statement now with the current state of this nation as well as my own. I have linked to an article that some of the healthcare provisions kicked with some that are helpful such as lifetime benefits and not being denied for a pre-existing condition. However, it is also noted that this will entail a 6% increase in cost to employers and we all know who will end up paying for this increase don’t we??

President Obama had said during the campaign he would not raise taxes on the people making less than $250,000.00 a year but this statement turned out to be nothing more that “smoke and mirrors”. What about the tax on tanning beds that just went into effect, or what about the money I am paying back right in payroll taxes for the so-called “stimulus” we got last year. If you don’t think your taxes are going to increase then why is the government going to hire and additional 17,000 new IRS agents to enforce the Health Care Legislation?? They are coming for more of your money and I as for me I don’t have anymore to give. Looks like I will be without any raise in salary again this years (and I am working more hours), my wife is going to be furloughed for 6 days next years which is about a 2.3% cut in pay!!

So I pose the questions “Are you better off than you were four years ago”? Send a message in the November election and put a halt to this continued stealing of our money, because eventually no one will have enough money to buy anything in this country. I have also posted a link about the hiring of 17,000 IRS agents.